3. The onus of fully inspecting and diagnosing the problem is on the buyer, during the inspection "window" of the sales contract. The buyer typically will share reports and estimates with the seller and request either that seller remedy the problem, give buyer a repair credit at closing (which may or may not be escrowed.)
4. Once the parties have AGREED on an approach (usually in writing) and a dollar amount, if the seller PERFORMS the agreed actions... any unresolved problems pass to the buyer at the closing. Everything is geared toward the idea that when the parties walk away from the closing they are done with each other.
5. So in your case Wizer... it depends on who did the inspection and what the specifics are of your agreement with the seller. If it's the case that you had a licensed HVAC contractor inspect the problem and he blew the diagnosis, you may have some recourse against HIM. And that's better than you'd do if he was an eye doc and misdiagnosed you...LOL...
But unless the seller gave you a written "blanket assurance" that he would FIX the problem (regardless of the cause and regardless of the cost) you probably have gotten all you're gonna get from him.
6. The only exception to that is fraud on the Seller's part. IOW, if you can find the contractor who CORRECTLY diagnosed the problem for the seller....information the seller FAILED to disclose... and THAT contractor will so testify or affirm ...then you have Mr. Seller by the short hairs and you can probably get the whole thing paid for and recover something more for your time and trouble. That's more likely to happen in a small town where you only have a handful of contractors.
Hmm...interesting and well written post, The Wiz...you know your stuff for sure...thanks.
To clarify:
The seller never got anyone in to evaluate the problem, he simply pointed out there was a leak, at closing we escrowed $750 to cover any repairs, but my attorney specifically wrote into the agreement that there was no upper liability limit..it was MY A/C contractor who came the first time, replaced the defective thermostat, blew out the clog in the line that he thought was causing the problem. He came back a second time and determined that the air handler was the problem, and it would need to be replaced for about $4000.
So based on what you wrote, I would think that it was a pre-existing problem, the seller promised to fix it, we escrowed funds to cover the repair, but the actually cost of the repair will be far greater than what we escrowed..the agreement covers the possibility of a greater repair cost.
The seller returned my call yesterday, he said he was out of town and he would contact his attorney and we would work towards resolving this problem one way or the other. I would be willing to meet him halfway, although I would probably bank the funds, and do the inexpensive repair which involves replacing the pan with a larger one, until such time the air handler completely fails..in 5 or 10 yrs or whatever...
I will double check the "permissions" problem again!
Edit- I think I got it this time. You should be able to modify your own posts and no one else's now...
